Eternal Resurgence
by Kain Lorhem
Summary: Seventeen is a tumultuous time in life. On the eve of university, Takeru is looking for happiness, and Yamato tries both to comfort and share his pain, and can you tell I like an angsty Takeru? (we have takedai, kensuke, taito, and a bit of taishiro) [I s
1. Seventeen

Resurgence

Resurgence

Disclaimer: If I owned the show it'd be aired opposite Will and Grace and would require one of those "depicts alternate lifestyles" disclaimers. Seeing as it's aired on Fox kids, I clearly don't, so please don't sue.

Author's Notes: Ahhh! This is what happens when Kit tries to write an angsty Takeru, while his friend babbles to him about Nietzsche. It started as a one sided Takedai fic, and became this. Oh yeah, it's got a side dish of meta-fiction too. Within are (takes a deep breath): takedai, kensuke (gasp!), taishiro, and yamachi!

***

  
"The eternal hourglass of existence is   
turned over and over, and you with it,   
a grain of dust."   
–Friedrich Nietzsche  


Numbness. Complete and total numbness was all that he could feel. He had been blind-sighted by a five ton truck and all he could was stand there and stare at Daisuke stupidly. The emotions swirling around inside him didn't quite register yet, and all his mind could do was flashback to a time when he thought that perhaps _they_ were special.

***

It was the hesitant and almost shy why that Daisuke walked up to Takeru that told him something was up. Those adjectives were something that he didn't associate with the red haired boy; they seemed out of character for someone who always was so energetic and exuberant.

"Hey... uh TK, do ya want to go out for a pizza… like after school or something?" The invitation was issued with almost no preamble.

Takeru, who always came when opportunity knocked, didn't hesitate to smile at Daisuke before he answered, "Yeah sure." 

"Cool." And with that the boy ran off to his first class of the day. 

Perhaps the anticlimactic way that the two began their romantic relationship should have signaled to the blond boy that this was just a normal, although queer, high school relationship. Nothing spectacular happened, there were no storms, no illnesses, no emergencies in the digital world, on the contrary, everything was just peachy.

Takeru always thought that when you met your true love something spectacular happened... perhaps this one time there was an exception.

***

The rain came down in sheets as the storm rocked the city of Odaiba. A blond boy walked through the lonely, rain soaked streets with not a care for his health. He didn't even know where he was going. 

_I never had him._ The chorus rang in his head.

_I never had any claim on him._ The voice inside wouldn't stop.

_He didn't love me._ The cold hard fact of it hit him.

He saw that he had reached a bridge. What little traffic there was below zoomed by at a dizzying pace. He looked up into the darkened and stormy sky, and asked, "Why?"

"Couldn't you have given me a little solace? Haven't I done enough?!" He yelled at the heavens, "All I wanted was a little happiness!" At that he broke down and sobbed into the uncaring night.

The blond haired boy leaned over the edge and saw the dazzling tail and headlights of the cars going by and he chuckled. He thought if perhaps their relationship had started here, on a dark and stormy night, the heavens expressing their displeasure with the world, maybe they might have had a chance. 

He could have imagined it now, he, the blond angel leaning over the edge of the bridge, on the brink of taking his own life. His knight in shining armor coming at the last possible moment and telling him not to jump, grasping on to his arm, as a flash of lightning illuminated their faces.

It was pathetic of him to think of things like that at that point in time. They were done. Over with.

Never again would he experience the soft, warm comfort of the burgundy haired boy's arms. He would never see that boyish face poised in that one ephemeral moment before climax ever again. All he had left were his memories.

_The theater let out a flood of people into the hot, muggy night as the immensely popular action film finished. Despite the fact that the full moon was well up in the sky, the weather was still warm, uncomfortably so with the humidity._

_Daisuke talked on to a silent, but smiling Takeru. He was content simply to listen to what his love had to say. As the goggled boy became silent, Takeru looked over and found himself confronted with a sparkling pair of chocolate brown eyes. And in that one shining moment he thought he saw something in Daisuke's eyes. The edges of his vision blurred and the uncomfortable weather was merely reduced to warm weather._

Takeru shook his head to clear the memory. He was wrong, he was horribly wrong. There was never any spark and the weather that night was incredibly unbearable and they had disagreed about the movie, and, and, and... The bearer of hope could not even trust his memories.

Of the two years that the two had together, the chosen child could keep nothing. All that he had was tainted by the underlying truth that his deep and undying affection had never been returned in the same fashion. That someone else, _someone else_, held that position in Daisuke's own heart.

The boy backed away from the bridge and started to aimlessly wander the city, not caring where he ended up. It was perhaps ingrained memory that found him to the doorstep of Yamato and his father.

It was the sudden and overwhelming need not to feel alone that made him ring the doorbell at that late of an hour. Takeru could always count on his brother in his times of need to lend him an ear, or just a shoulder to cry on.

He could imagine what he looked like to Yamato as he opened his front door; standing there looking like a drowned rat, the storm pouring down behind him, and a look of immense heartbreak on his face.

As Yamato got one good look at his brother he bit immediately led Takeru into the living room and sat him down on the couch.

"What's wrong?" Yamato got directly to the point.

"Dai... Daisuke... we, we broke up" Takeru wiped his nose with his sleeve, and in that moment he looked so agonizingly young and forlorn, the bearer of friendship could not help but feel anger at the boy that broke his brother's heart.

"Ah… come here." Yamato pulled his younger brother towards him, and held him gently as he cried his grief out against his brother's shoulder.

The musician whispered, "Do you want to talk about it?" He could feel his brother's head nod against his shoulder in agreement.

"I w-was walking to Daisuke's to..."

***

The young Takaishi boy looked up at the clouds which shielded the city from the hot sun, and thought to himself that it was a welcome respite from the scorching weather they had of late.

Today was going to be a happy day. The weather was good, he had no homework, and he was going to see Daisuke, just because. Takeru's thoughts of his goggled boyfriend put a smile on his lips, and he couldn't help but speed up his pace to Daisuke's apartment.

He reached the familiar building and trotted up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, walking right to the brass plate proclaiming 1235. The blond boy knocked politely on the door, humming a tune softly to himself. When he didn't receive an answer he tried the knob, finding it uncharacteristically unlocked.

"I don't think he'd mind me letting myself in... He probably has the stereo on too loud to hear the doorbell anyways..." Takeru remarked to himself as the swung the wooden door open.

He was completely unprepared to find his boyfriend engaging Ken Ichijouji in what appeared to be a passionate kiss. The two were pressed up against one arm of the couch, and both their eyes were closed. With some sense of irony, Takeru realized that Daisuke was still wearing the silver bracelet that he gave him.

As Takeru slumped against the wall of the Motimiya living room, all he could manage to choke out was a strangled cry of "Daisuke..."

That snapped Daisuke out of the daze he was in with Ken, and the burgundy haired boy looked over the couch to see his boyfriend, soon to be ex, looking over at him with the expression of a kicked puppy. The two boys entangled on the couch gave each other a look, and they both turned simultaneously to Takeru.

He could feel the icy tendrils of despair wind their way across his body, and in an apartment blocks away, a small crest on a chain broke into two.

Daisuke got up from the couch and tried to say something to Takeru, who had faded into his memories for a moment, before snapping back to attention, and hushing Daisuke. 

"Ah... just try to be h-happy, ok?" Takeru held back tears as he ran out the apartment, slamming the door behind him...

***

"...and I sat there! I sat there, outside his door for half an hour, waiting, hoping that he would come out after me!" Takeru was sobbing at that point in his narrative.

"And he never came out! I was going to take him back, I love him more than anything else, I just wanted him back! Oh god... I'm so pathetic."

Yamato responded to the distress in his little brother's voice, and tried to console him.

"Hey, TK, you can't let this thing eat at your soul... you have to learn to move on."

Takeru looked up and stared at his brother with bloodshot eyes.

"Or at least learn to live with the pain." Takeru could clearly see the anguish in his brother's eyes that he carried with him as a constant reminder that he perhaps should have taken a chance. Yamato smiled a bitter smile.

"Happiness doesn't seem to come easy to those in our family." Takeru observed.

"No... that's not true, we just need to go out and find it."

The younger of the two stared at his hands as if they held the answers to his problems.

"I don't know what tell you Takeru, I would go over there right now and beat-up Daisuke if I thought it would help, but it wouldn't. It was a rotten thing that he did to you, cheating like that with Ken, but you can't let him have this much power over your life, it's not healthy." Yamato realized the hypocrisy in his statement, but he hoped that his brother had not.

"Don't give me that brother. You know as well as I do that that's crap. You've been, what, pining over that boy for something like 4 years now? Don't you give me this."

"It's different... you don't understand."

"What's different about it!? You two have more chemistry then he and Koushiro ever had! Why can't you take happiness when it's offered?" Takeru asked angrily of his brother.

"Because I don't want to be the bad guy! Ok!? I don't want to be that dirty little secret, feeling like I have to sneak around. And if I try to win him from Koushiro it would be ugly, and he would always have that little doubt in his mind. I love him TK, I can wait for him."

"Then if you're so sure, why do you have that look in your eyes?" He was referring to that slight sheen of pain constantly in Yamato's eyes.

"I... I was going to do it after the internet battle. Our digimon had DNA digivolved..." Takeru looked down at his hands again, "...and I had felt so close to him. But there was no time after diaborimon had been destroyed, and by the time we got back from grandma's... he and Koushiro… I missed my chance, and I'm paying for it."

"I thought Daisuke was the one..." Takeru buried his head in his brother's shoulder. And all Yamato could do to comfort the lovelorn boy was to give him a shoulder to cry on.

***

"Are you sure this is what you want to do Takeru?" Yamato asked of his brother as they stood in the large terminal in Narita International Airport.

Takeru shoved the satchel back on his shoulder, "It's a bit too late to reconsider now isn't it?" His luggage had already been loaded into the belly of a large 747-400.

"I suppose." He paused for a moment, "But if you don't want to go through with this, I'm sure we can..."

"This is what I need to do, brother."

"Alright." Yamato grudgingly conceded. They had gone over the arguments time and time again. Takeru was set in what he was going to do.

It had come to a surprise to the other digidestined that Takeru had decided to attend college in America. When they had all asked why he was going overseas instead of staying in Japan, he gave some explanation about seeing the world, and broadening his experiences. There had been no awkward questions from the group, none of the others had known about the clandestine relationship between their leader and the child of hope; none had known how he was running because of a broken heart. None except that is, for Daisuke himself.

Takeru remembered how Daisuke had approached him after his little announcement and tried to speak with him, and how he coldly brushed him off.

"Do you understand Yamato? I need… time and space, if not to get over him, at least to learn to live with it, do you understand?" Takeru asked of his brother.

"You have friendship, you need to stay close to him, but I, I need hope, and I can't have any while I'm here." Takeru took one last look at Yamato, his parents, Kari, and Taichi, and walked ahead, into his future.


	2. Brave New World

Author

Author's Notes: Short chapter here, more of an interlude. I don't own, please don't sue.

***

Walking off the plane and into the crowded international terminal at Los Angeles International Airport was an entirely disconcerting experience. The large crowd of people waiting for relatives or friends from the multitude of flights that arrived at the busy airport made the terminal too loud for comfort.

Takeru looked at the amassed crowd and tried to pick out Willis's head of blond hair. He could see him, standing by the metal bars separating the area leading into the airport proper. Takeru pushed the cart containing his luggage towards him, and the two hugged.

Nothing was said between them until they got to Willis's car, a forest green convertible.

"Nice car."

"I briefly worked for an internet company... I got out before it went south, and the stock was enough to cover it."

"Cool."

Soon the two were free of the horrendous traffic of the airport and the city, speeding on the 101 towards the bay city of San Francisco. The open air experience on the freeway doing 80 was exhilarating, but bearable because of the thoughtfully installed wind screen.

"I figured you wanted to go up to Berkley as soon as possible, so that you could get unpacked and all."

"Hmm." Takeru stared out at the scenery, letting his eyes glide over the rolling hills.

"Soo... why are you attending college here, instead of in Japan?" Willis glanced at Takeru for a second, before turning back to the road.

"Hm? Oh, just needed a change of scenery, I guess." Takeru answered absently.

"But I thought you and Daisuke were together." Willis looked away from the road again, and saw that Takeru's shoulders had gone stiff.

"Yes, that, ah... I caught him with Ken." Belatedly remembering that Willis probably didn't know who Ken was, he went on, "Another digidestined."

"Oh, uh, that sucks, Takeru."

"It does." Takeru turned to face Willis, "I know I've been not all that friendly, but it's just still so fresh in my mind."

"That's ok, I can understand that."

The two were silent for a moment, before Takeru reached into his satchel and pulled out a small bag. In it were the remains of the bracelet he had given Daisuke. In a moment of anger, he had asked Yamato to go ask for it back, and once he got it, he set a screwdriver to it, meticulously unlinking every piece of the silver chain. Takeru poured the pieces into his hand, and tossed them up into the air, watching as they scattered onto to the freeway.


	3. Twenty-one

A

A/N: If you sue you'll only get dog-eared paperbacks of _ The Last Herald Mage_ trilogy (Vanyel!), so please don't. Warnings still apply. 

***

*Final boarding call, ANA flight #545, direct service to Narita International Airport. Repeat, this is the final boarding call for ANA flight #545, direct service to Narita International Airport.*

Takeru was finally going home for the first time in four years. His luggage rested securely in the belly of the large jet, he was belted comfortably in the soft first class seat (being the brother of a moderately famous musician had its perks), and his friend was sitting securely in the seat next to him. Takeru glanced over at Wallace as the American boy packed away his laptop for takeoff.

Wallace, after completing his masters in computer science in a record four years, had decided to move to Japan to work in the tech industry. America's own technology sector never quite fully recovered from the internet stock crash of '01, and besides, Koushiro was offering him a prime position in his own internet startup.

Looking out the window, he was greeted by the sight of normally sunny Los Angeles covered with grey storm clouds. Unlike the drive up to Berkley four years ago, they drove down a day ahead to make sure arrangements were complete for their trip back to Japan. Most of their belongings had already been sent ahead, by freighter, and all that was left to do was to drop Wallace's beloved convertible off at the dock.

Driving back down south was an agonizing trip for Takeru, knowing that he was finally going to have to face what caused him to run away so many years ago. He had not seen any of the other digidestined, with the exception of Yamato and Taichi, since he left. Though every time Yamato had visited, Takeru had been sorely tempted to ask of his wayward ex-boyfriend. But the thought of hearing that they were still together, the chipper happy couple, made him hold his tongue.

No longer would he have to wait. He would go home and see for himself, and maybe get some closure for the heartache that occasionally still plagued him. Takeru could feel the anticipation building within him. There was the possibility that the two had not lived happily ever after. The odds were in his favor that the two had broken up at some point during his stay in America. Of course, the destined children were never average; they always seemed to be able to defy the odds in the face of great adversity.

"Then why couldn't we have beaten the odds...?" Takeru mumbled softly to himself.

"What was that?" Takeru looked up and saw that Wallace was looking at him, one blond eyebrow raised.

"Just talking to myself, you know me."

"I do know you, and you never talk to yourself." Wallace thought about it for a moment, "It's about them isn't it?"

"Them?" Takeru tried to avoid the question.

"You know what I'm talking about."

Takeru looked away from his roommate of four years to focus on the coach passengers walking by, who were giving the first-class passengers dirty looks. He could see one of them holding a first generation iBook, and thought how his own laptop far surpassed the power of that one.

"Takeru, it's been more than time to move on already. It's been five years..."

He turned his attention back to Wallace, "He was supposed to be the one! You can't know what it's like to have that ripped away from you... I just need some closure here."

"Then why didn't you just ask Yamato about them?" _Like I did_. 

"Because… then I would never go back. If it were true, I'd never be able to go back, it'd be too hard." Wallace looked like he was about to protest, "I know I'm the 'child of hope', whatever that means now, but it's been a long time since I've felt any hope at all."

***

Wallace looked up from the bright screen of his laptop and saw that Takeru had fallen asleep. The lights on the plane were dim, as it was 'night,' so most of the people around him were sleeping. Wallace could feel the stiffness in his muscles and decided to walk around the plane before his body really started complaining. Closing the Evangelion dvd, he powered his laptop down, and got up.

Walking aft in the plane, he stopped by the galley to ask for a drink before walking back into coach class. Here too, most people were asleep, though there were a few exceptions. He could readily see two people talking over the aisle way and someone watching something on a laptop. The blond boy started walking up and down the passageway as he arranged his thoughts.

He could remember about two years after the two had settled into Berkley, Yamato and Taichi had visited them. Yamato was kicking off a tour in America, and four digidestined had a little get together at the apartment Wallace and Takeru shared. It was about 2 in the morning, and both Taichi and Takeru had called it quits, going to bed, but other two had stayed, sitting in the small living room drinking and talking. He wasn't sure what prompted him to ask the circumstances concerning Takeru and Daisuke's break-up...

_"All he ever told me was that it ended badly with Daisuke."_

_Yamato groaned and leaned back on the couch, "I guess you should know, seeing as you're going to be caring for his love-life for the next two years." At that Yamato grinned at the American. Wallace chuckled._

_There was nothing but the muted sounds of the city in the room as Yamato thought about how to tell Wallace. He decided to do it succinctly. "The two had been going out for two years, and I could just see that Takeru was in love with him. I think what tipped me off was all the little things that TK did, how he never seemed to forget to go to a game, how he would worry a lot about getting Daisuke something really special on his birthday, you know that my brother usually isn't one to worry about something like that, it was the little things. How Takeru would always talk about Daisuke... and mind you I'm not imagining this stuff. I wasn't going through the happiest time, and I didn't exactly see the best side of everything, but I saw it for what it was. My brother really loved that boy." Yamato was silent for a moment._

_"And I thought that Daisuke loved him too, though not as much. Takeru very much needed Dai... though I don't think the opposite was true. And he strayed a bit too far... I could remember how angry I was at him, for breaking my Takeru's heart. But what scared me was how disjoined Takeru was after that. I stayed at mom's for a while, and I remember how he would just would just walk around the house, and not say a single world. One day he saw a picture of himself and Daisuke that was on buried under the stuff on his desk. It had been taken years ago when they first got together, and he just snapped a bit. He raged around the apartment, throwing things, ripping up pictures of them... I had to restrain him to calm him down. He sort of went back to normal after that, but he was never quite the same. He had this edge to his voice that was never there before, and his eyes didn't quite look right anymore."_

_"I kinda stopped talking to Daisuke and Ken after that. I love my brother and that boy held Takeru's heart in his hands... and he just dropped it, and wondered why it bled on the ground. I saw how happy he made my brother, and when he took that away, it was too much. It may sound a bit illogical and hypocritical to say this, but Takeru is my brother, and that comes first. Taichi still talks to them though. I don't bother asking."_

_"Are they still together?" Wallace asked._

_"... all I know is that the two broke up soon after Takeru left. You can tell him if you want, though I would ask not to. If they were truly meant for each other, fate will make it right."_

_"Uh..."_

_"Ok, that did sound weird. What I meant to say was that Takeru needs to find his own place in life, and if that place is with Daisuke, it'll happen."_

_"That clears it up."_

_"Yeah, I thought so."_

They had fallen asleep almost right after that, sitting there in the living room. Though he had a hangover, Wallace could clearly remember their conversation, he wasn't so sure that Yamato could say the same. He thought about what Takeru's love life was like over the four years they rooming together. It was usually brown haired boys, with high cheekbones and faces seemingly reminiscent of Daisuke's. A couple dates here and there and Takeru would break it off. 

Wallace walked back towards the first-class section of the plane, and as he passed the doorway of the galley into the compartment, he stopped for a moment and admired Takeru. The sleeping blond boy was beautiful, still maintaining a boyish face at the age of 21, his pale skin served only to enhance his bright blond hair. He had shed the short sleeved shirts and shorts of his youth for cloths more suited to San Francisco's cold and damp climate. Jeans, and plaid, vast, vast amounts of plaid, and Wallace couldn't help but think that some of his own fashion sense rubbed off on Takeru.

Back in the day, Wallace briefly entertained thoughts of dating Takeru, but as they grew closer to each other, their bond became one of great friendship, rather than of romance. And it was clear to him that Takeru was till very much in love with the burgundy haired boy who had left him so long ago. As he walked closer he could see that Takeru looked so innocent and carefree as he slept, at least at first glace. Wallace noticed how he was curled up, as if protecting himself from some pain, how his shoulders never quite could completely relax, signs that not all was happy.

He once again reached his seat, and belted himself in. He nestled under a blanket, and tried to get some sleep before they reached Japan.

***

Stepping out into the terminal brightly lit by the skylines was an unnerving experience for Takeru. For the first time in four years he was home again. Wanting to leave the airport as soon as possible, he dragged Wallace along with him as they marched towards customs. They met a representative of the airline there that sped them through the lengthy lines, all the while getting nasty looks from tourists and residents all the same. Once again Takeru thought it was nice to have friends in high places.

Quickly they went through baggage claim, picking their luggage up, and exiting the arrival area. The two blond boys saw the gathered group of family and friends waiting for them anxiously at one end of the massive international terminal. As they approached it was all hugs and kisses for the two, whom they had not seen for years.

Wallace could pick out the entire Ishida family, Taichi, his sister, Koushiro, and all the new digidestined, with the notable exception of Ken and Daisuke. If Takeru noticed their absence he gave no sign of it. Sensing the weariness of the two travelers, the group moved en-masse towards the parking structure.

"We're gonna take your luggage to dad's car, and he'll drive over with us to my apartment. You two can stay with me and Taichi until you get a place of your own." Yamato informed Takeru and Wallace.

As they got to the parking lot, the group disbanded, with promises to get together tomorrow. Masaharu relieved the two of their luggage, and they were all off for their respective cars.

"So, did you two have an enjoyable flight?" Taichi tried to make conversation.

"Takeru here slept most of the way, though being in first class was really nice, thanks Yamato."

"No problem, I knew someone at the airline."

Looking out on the city from the parking structure, Wallace remarked, "The roads here are a whole lot narrower than in America."

"Eh, you get used to it." It was the first thing Takeru said in a while.

"Come on, this is it." Yamato indicated a black car.

They all got in and Yamato pulled out of the lot towards the expressway that would lead them back to Odaiba. Takeru stared out of the backseat window at the glowing Tokyo skyline, not really seeing the towering buildings. Instead he thought of Daisuke, the only boy that he ever loved. Thought about how he could not take one precious moment away from his _Ken_ to welcome him home. Slowly Takeru could feel the anger bubble up inside of him. While he was the one that had to leave his home, his family, his friends, and to go to a foreign land, where everyone spoke a different language, he was _not_ the one to screw up!

Takeru became terribly angry at Daisuke for the unfairness of the situation before he realized the anger would not help. It would not bring them back together, not bring him any happiness. Feeling the cool re-circulated air around him, and looking out into the inky darkness, Takeru resigned himself to his fate.

***

The second generation of the digidestined children had agreed to meet at a coffee house the next morning. Yamato had dropped Wallace and Takeru off, with the reminder that they had to go get their tuxedos fitted in the afternoon.

As Takeru saw two people sitting across from each other in the front window of the café, he was assailed by a memory, and stopped momentarily.

"Takeru?"

"I saw them here, a couple weeks afterward. Yamato and I were walking somewhere, and I looked in and I saw them, sitting at that table." Takeru pointed to the table in question. "But anyways, let's go in."

Already Miyako, Iori, and Hikari had arrived, and were chatting quietly at a table. They waved the two boys over, and soon they were settled, and informing Takeru of what had happened in his four year absence.

"Iori here found himself a nice boyfriend." Miyako looked excited as she relayed the details to Takeru, over the protests of a blushing Iori. "He's all so quiet and serious most of the time, but that boy has the dirtiest mind you'd ever find!"

Takeru let the voice wash over him, as he listened to Miyako go on endlessly about the gossip of the digidestined until she casually mentioned something about Daisuke and Ken.

"Yeah, did you hear about them? They got together a little while after you left, and it was nice that they trusted us enough to tell us about it. Though Kari here didn't take the news so well..."

"Don't start with that again Miyako, I'm not homophobic, I've got a gay brother, I have my reasons for not being overenthusiastic about them." Kari gave Takeru a sidelong glance.

"…Anyways they broke up a year after that, and we don't get to see Ken too much anymore, seeing as he lives across town and all. The Takaishi boy showed not much outward emotion at the news, but inside he revived a hope that he thought was dead years ago.

"Daisuke'd be here and telling you this himself, except he's visiting some relatives in the country with his family. And Ken told me the oddest thing..." Miyako tilted her head and gave Takeru a speculative look.

The blond boy remained silent on the issue, waiting for Miyako to speak, thinking about how much Ken would have told them.

"He told me that you two weren't exactly on speaking terms before you left." The table was silent as they waited for Takeru to respond. 

"But I guess that's between you two..." Iori tried to be diplomatic.

Miyako, displaying her usual measure of tact, segued into the love lives of the other digidestined. Herself and Hikari were still bachelorettes; Jyou was involved with someone at the hospital -- whom, she had not yet ascertained; after Koushiro broke up with Taichi, the red haired boy immersed himself in his work; Mimi found herself an American boyfriend; and while it was not news to Takeru that Sora was getting married in the near future, it was news that her fiancé was the son of some bigwig at NTT DoCoMo.

They all sat there into the afternoon before Yamato came by to take Takeru and Wallace to get the final fitting done on their tuxes. The group parted with a cadre of hugs and promises to talk more at Sora's wedding, which was going to be held in two days.

As Hikari embraced Takeru she leaned close to him and whispered, "Four years ago I kept my mouth shut, I'm not gonna do it this time. I'll call you tomorrow." She smiled enigmatically, and Takeru was whisked away before he could digest her remarks.

That night conflicting emotions were battling it out in his body. Hope versus despair versus desire versus excitement as he thought about what the wedding would bring. But foremost on his mind was Hikari's odd parting message.

"What the hell does she mean, 'I kept my mouth shut...'?"

But the exhaustion of the day caught up with him, and he fell into a deep dreamless slumber.

_to be continued..._


End file.
